WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Batman: Gotham Nights #20 from Marc Guggenheim, Priscilla Petraites, Inaki Miranda, Nick Filardi and Troy Peteri, available now.
Throughout decades of Batman stories, many villains have tried to discern who's under the cape and cowl. Apart from the demented Joker, no one's ever gotten the truth behind the Dark Knight's identity -- apart from his beloved Catwoman -- and weaponized it to the point they could break him.
However, that almost happens in Batman: Gotham Nights #20 as Bruce Wayne hatches a plan to unmask the Bat in front of several enemies to save an innocent detective's life.
Riddler's consorting with a special cabal which includes Penguin, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, Carmine Falcone, and Catwoman as he thinks he's figured out the Caped Crusader's secret in "Identity Crisis." He's dug up data using facial recognition software and matched it to the five-year disappearance before the Bat showed up in Gotham City, fingering Detective Marcus Brady as the vigilante. Riddler gets it totally wrong, which Catwoman informs the Bat of. However, he knows that his hands are tied because the cabal wants Marcus dead, which results in Harley Quinn trying to kill him in court. The Bat intervenes but this leaves the paranoid Riddler thinking Marcus had someone pretend to be Batman, leading to a kidnapping.
Bruce is at his wit's end as he can't unmask but he knows, just like in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, he has to do something. He can't let a good man die to protect his secret, and luckily, he has Catwoman to help him out. The Bat raids the location they're torturing Marcus at, and Catwoman distracts him long enough for Riddler to stun him and take the mask off. Shockingly, it's not Bruce, but some blonde dude that Catwoman says is Simon Acklin. He's a mysterious rich guy she tried to rob a while back but his security systems couldn't be breached and now she knows why. Riddler's chided for being wrong but he tries to play it off like this is part of his plan. 'Simon' gets up, though, and takes the crew out before rescuing Marcus and fleeing. He leaves the cop safe and sound on a Gotham rooftop but Marcus knows it's a setup. The Bat used an EMP image inducer to fake his face and even as Marcus asks for the truth, Bruce won't give in.
He'll endanger Marcus' life, plus it makes no sense to leak this intel. The Bat already covered his bases as he set up fake housing and a false life for Simon, which will disappear soon, more or less leaving the cabal chasing a ghost. Marcus is impressed but as he tries one last time for the name, the vigilante just lets him know he's Batman.
Luckily, it's a happy ending, one Batman has to thank Selina Kyle for because the Catwoman played her entire crew to protect the man she loves.